I realized I didn't have any post to explain these promotions.
I'll cover only the 3 main banks in Singapore cos I'm pretty traditional when it comes to banks and I like the availability of the outlets and the ATM and all that. I'm also skeptical about other banks as they may be run differently and all that. The other banks usually have better deals though. I'm just concerned that the next financial crisis might affect a bank like Standard Chartered in London and somehow it affects the Standard Chartered in Singapore. So I tend to keep my money in the 3 main Singapore banks.
UOB One Account
Spend SGD500 on UOB One Card or any selected card
1% on first SGD10k
1.5% on the next SGD20k
2% o the next SGD20k
0.5% on any amount above that
Resulting in 1.6% up to the first SGD50k (IF you have SGD50k)
OR
Spend SGD500 on UOB One Card or any selected card
+ Credit your salary (min. S$2,000) or Pay 3 bills monthly via GIRO
1.5% on first SGD10k
2% on the next SGD20k
3.33% o the next SGD20k
0.05% on any amount above that
Resulting in 2.43% up to the first SGD50k (IF you have SGD50k)
My wife and I spend SGD500 monthly on the UOB One card and we make 3 monthly GIRO transactions from this bank account.
I feel this is a good account as I am currently not working and, thus, am unable to credit my salary into this account. The company my wife works for only pays to DBS bank so she also cannot credit her salary to any other bank account. This account allows us to use 3 GIRO payments as a substitute to enjoy the 2.43% offered by UOB.
OCBC 360 Account
This is really a good account
0.05% base interest
+1.2% interest when crediting your salary of at least S$2,000 through GIRO
+0.5% interest when paying any 3 bills online or through GIRO
+0.5% interest when spending at least SGD500 on OCBC Credit Cards
Other bonus include
+1% interest when you buy a financial product from OCBC and get this bonus for 12 months
+1% per annum on the increase balance month on month
(If your last balance was SGD100, and this month your balance is SGD300,
you get 1% x SGD200 / 12)
The bonus interest will be applied on the first SGD60k
So that's 2.25% interest on SGD60k (IF you have SGD60k)
If I was working or if the company my wife works for could credit her salary into this account, we would use this account. Firstly, the interest can be applied on the first SGD60k which is more than the UOB SGD50k. Next we would use the OCBC 365 card. This card requires less monitoring and gives rebates once the spending is more than SGD600. Any incremental amount is also awarded rebates. Whereas the UOB one card is by tiers and any spending between the tiers does not earn rebates. For more details refer to my post on credit cards.
POSB Cash Back Account
This is a new account
You get the below cashback if you utilize at least 3 out of the below 5 categories.
Salary
SGD20 if you credit your salary of SGD6,700 into this account
If you credit less salary you get less cashback
SGD7.50 if you credit the minimum of SGD2,500 into this account
Credit Card spending
SGD20 if you spend SGD6,700 on POSB/DBS credit cards accumulated across all cards
If you spend less on the cards you get less cashback
Home Loan
SGD30 if your monthly loan installment is SGD1000
If your monthly loan installment is less than SGD1000 you get less cashback
Insurance related products
SGD30 if your monthly insurance premium purchased from POSB/DBS is SGD1000
If your monthly insurance is less than SGD1000 you get less cashback
Unit Trust Investments
SGD30 if you invest SGD1000 per month in Unit Trusts provided by POSB/DBS bank
If your monthly investment is less than SGD1000 you get less cashback
The most practical categories are
Salary, Credit card spending and Home loan.
To get the max cashback from this, you need to
1) Credit SGD6,700 salary
2) Spend SGD6,700 in credit card spending
3) Pay SGD1,000 in monthly loan installment
And you get SGD70 back.
Seriously, this is a rubbish account.
To get the practical maximum cash back, I have to spend my whole salary and I still have to pay my monthly installment. To get a measly SGD70.
If I had SGD6,700 pay, I would save up SGD50,000 soon and get 2.43% interest using the UOB One Account, which amounts to about SGD100 per month. And I only need to spend SGD500 on my UOB credit card.
I never really made the calculation til today so I never really thought about it.
But really. This account is crap.
Edited - After reading my15hourworkweek, about this account, a good idea, since I have a DBS/POSB mortgage, is for me to spend lightly on my POSB everyday card and make a small monthly contribution to investments. This will qualify me in the 3 categories to receive at least SGD30 on the SGD1000 monthly mortgage I pay.
At least there is the
DBS Multiplier Account right?!
You are supposed to get up to 2.68% interest when you bank with DBS.
Ok so you need to
1) Credit your salary,
2) Spend on your credit card,
3) Make home loan payments,
4) Buy one of their insurance related products,
5) Invest in their Unit Trust or credit your dividends into your DBS account
The magic number is SGD20,000
If you only use 1 or 2 out of the 5 services, example, you only credit your salary, you need to credit SGD20,000 to get 2.08% on your first SGD50k
If you credit your salary and spend on your credit card. Both totaling SGD20,000, you again get 2.08% on your first SGD50k
If you use 3 or more of the 5 categories, the max interest you get is 2.68%
So if you credit your salary + spend on your credit card + make home loan payments all totaling SGD20k, you get 2.68% interest on the first SGD50k
Once again, this is the max interest you can earn. Meaning if your transactions total less than SGD20k, you will earn less interest.
This is another rubbish account by DBS/POSB. Once again I never really went down to the actual numbers until today when I'm writing this article. But really. DBS/POSB isn't even really trying to be competitive. Well I think they don't have a lack of funds anyway so they aren't too concerned with getting Singaporean funds.
Notable Mention
OCBC Bonus + Account
Initial deposit of SGD10k
Minimum monthly balance of SGD3k (else SGD2 penalty will be charged per month)
0.05% base interest per annum
If no withdrawal for the month then +0.75% bonus interest per annum
If there are any withdrawals during the month then only the base interest is awarded for that month
This account is useful for funds which are more than the maximum amount for bonus interest in the respective banks.
Meaning, if you already have SGD50k in UOB One account, then any amount above SGD50k will only earn you 0.05% so you should put the funds into this OCBC Bonus + account to earn additional interest.
Similarly, if you already have SGD60k in OCBC 360 account, then any amount above SGD60k will only earn you 0.05% so you should put any additional funds into this Bonus+ account as well to earn more interest.
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